Grain merge preserves the colour saturation better, whereas hard light gives more intense shadows and highlights. I wrote a short description/tutorial about all the layer modes a while back, it might be somewhere around the forums if you look around.

Couple of years ago I found a tutorial using emboss to do this in the opposite direction (in to out)... and I have spent hours trying to find that tutorial or figure it out I'd share the pic but I'm too new. (Now I remember why I haven't come back here.) I don't remember whether or not I made two squares and did embossing on the edges of the outer one ??? As in, did the math thing where you find the area of the ring around it by taking big minus little? Then take that layer and "emboss up" and lay it on top of the plain one?

I hate this part of learning -- when there is something big to do, and you decide you're stuck and should try something different, only you get another idea I'll give it half an hour... I'm just posting this because the only way to become not a new user is to post for the sake of posting, which is spammy IMHO, but whatever.

Couple of years ago I found a tutorial using emboss to do this in the opposite direction (in to out)... and I have spent hours trying to find that tutorial or figure it out I'd share the pic but I'm too new. (Now I remember why I haven't come back here.) I don't remember whether or not I made two squares and did embossing on the edges of the outer one ??? As in, did the math thing where you find the area of the ring around it by taking big minus little? Then take that layer and "emboss up" and lay it on top of the plain one?

I hate this part of learning -- when there is something big to do, and you decide you're stuck and should try something different, only you get another idea I'll give it half an hour... I'm just posting this because the only way to become not a new user is to post for the sake of posting, which is spammy IMHO, but whatever.

That's what I'm trying to do with an image, too - make it sunk relief rather than raised relief

I did this tutorial and it got me much closer to where I need to be, so huge thanks for that!

Couple of years ago I found a tutorial using emboss to do this in the opposite direction (in to out)... and I have spent hours trying to find that tutorial or figure it out I'd share the pic but I'm too new. (Now I remember why I haven't come back here.) I don't remember whether or not I made two squares and did embossing on the edges of the outer one ??? As in, did the math thing where you find the area of the ring around it by taking big minus little? Then take that layer and "emboss up" and lay it on top of the plain one?

I hate this part of learning -- when there is something big to do, and you decide you're stuck and should try something different, only you get another idea I'll give it half an hour... I'm just posting this because the only way to become not a new user is to post for the sake of posting, which is spammy IMHO, but whatever.

That's what I'm trying to do with an image, too - make it sunk relief rather than raised relief

I did this tutorial and it got me much closer to where I need to be, so huge thanks for that!

If anyone has ideas about how to do that, I'd love to hear them!

You can have a look at the link below.To see if it might be helpful to you.